The present invention relates to a system for supporting safe driving as automatically controlling various conditions of a vehicle such as an automobile. The present invention, in particular, relates to a safe driving support system that performs in cooperation with a navigation system of the vehicle that guides a driver according to a selected route from a present location of the vehicle to a destination.
Recently, a navigation system has come into wide use. The navigation system comprises means for storing road-map data, means for detecting a present location of a vehicle by a GPS, a beacon, various bearing sensors or the like. The navigation system searches a route from the detected present location of the vehicle to the destination with reference to the road-map data and displays the determined route together with a map near around on a display screen so as to guide a driver.
The road-map data includes road data that indicates coordinates of main intersections of roads, types of the roads and width of the roads and coordinate data of facilities near around, rail ways, rivers or the like. Accordingly, the map near around displayed on a display screen of the navigation system shows the main intersections, buildings, stations or the like that may be landmarks for the driver as driving the vehicle along the determined route.
However, the road-map data stored in the conventional navigation system fails to include a data on an area, such as a house complex region, an apartment building complex region, a school zone or the like where there are many pedestrians and therefore safe driving should be performed. The area is referred to a safe driving area hereinbelow.
Safe driving with special attentiveness is required in the safe driving area because of the many pedestrians. The conventional navigation system includes no data on the safe driving area so that the navigation system fails to determine as to whether the present location or position of the vehicle is in the area or not. It is therefore not possible to display any guidance on the display screen to direct the driver to keep the safe driving.
Some drivers may have an ability to determine that the present location is in the safe driving area according to the map information displayed on the screen. It, however, depends on the driver's judgment or driving skill to do the actual safe driving of preventing sudden start and sudden acceleration as considering or regarding an accidental appearance of a pedestrian. There is no means in the vehicle for actively preventing the sudden start and sudden acceleration in the safe driving area.